SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University softball team took to the diamond for the first time at home this weekend and managed to escape the weather on Friday, as they played their first double-header of two and dropped both contests to Western New Mexico, 5-2, and Chadron State, 8-3.

The second day of double headers that was scheduled for Saturday afternoon was cancelled due to weather conditions. 

In both games, the Yellow Jackets showed they belong competing in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, having been in the lead or within just two runs in 11 of the 14 innings played this weekend.

In the Jacket's first game versus WNM (8-12, 5-4), the Mustangs struck first with three runs in the top of the third as BHSU scored in the fourth thanks to the RBI single by SS Ryan Cook that knocked home 1B Jordan McCarthy.  Cook and McCarthy were the only players to drive home runs as McCarthy later drove home LF Brooke Grant, who hit a single earlier in the top of the fifth inning. 

WNM manage to make subtle contact on P Alex Huntington that allowed multiple soft blooper-like hits to drop to accumulate into the three run victory at the end of seven innings.

The senior pitcher for the Jackets, Huntington hung tough all day as she surrendered four earned runs with just three walks.

WNM pitcher, BreAnna Eaker, did have an impressive outing as she held the Jackets, who came into the weekend ranked third in the RMAC with 21 extra base hits, to just two hits overall and two the two earned runs on way to the victory.

Cook and McCarthy finished a combined 2-for-6 with two RBIs as Huntington's versatility allowed her to finish 2-for-4 as she hit her fourth double of the season and reached base three out of her four at bats.

Chadron State (8-8, 6-3 RMAC) was next for BHSU after the Eagles beat WNM in the first game of the day by a score of 11-1 in five innings.  Therefore, when the Yellow Jackets held the lead 2-0 over the Eagles heading into the top-half of the sixth inning – they proved they could make some noise against one of the conferences better offensive teams as CSC is ranked fourth in the RMAC with 48 runs scored in just six conference games played this year.

Therefore, it was as equally as impressive to see Yellow Jacket senior pitcher, Nikki Chacon, pitch 6.2 innings and strikeout seven CSC batters in the process.

"That was one of the best outings that I have ever seen from Chacon," Head Coach, Amy Gurney said following the game. "It is very encouraging moving forward in the season with her performing like that."

Chacon shutout the high powered Eagles for the first five innings and had a one-hitter going through the first four innings.  It was not until the sixth inning where the Eagles finally had a few hits drop their way to help them gain some hits and add base runners on way to a four-run inning. 

BHSU saw their rally come in the third inning, where they established their two run lead thanks to Brooke Grant starting the inning off with a single, Huntington advanced her two second, and then C Sara Schmid ripped an RBI single to score Grant. 

After McCarthy followed with another single that advance Schmid to third, 3B Erica Everson hit the third single of the inning to allow the quick catcher, Schmid, to score and provide some breathing room and added confidence for the Jackets as the game winded down into the late innings.

The four-run sixth inning was followed again by four more runs in the seventh for CSC thanks to two singles and a double by Rebekah Anthony to allow their eighth and final run to score.

CSC held off the seventh inning rally after Everson's RBI double scored Schmid as McCarthy advanced to third. 2B Katie Campo walked two batters later with two out but CSC closed the door in the competitive battle.

Both Schmid and Grant hit triples in the game as Schmid finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI.  Grant was also 2-for-3 as Everson and McCarthy both finished 3-for-4 and Everson had an additional two RBIs.

The next four game series for the Yellow Jackets (2-11, 2-6 RMAC) comes next Saturday and Sunday, March 16-17, 2013 as they travel down to take on CSU-Pueblo (9-4, 6-2 RMAC) in two double header days as they look to knock off the RMAC's third-ranked team who is 8-2 in their last 10 games.

BHSU's next home games come versus Colorado-Christian (3-11, 0-4 RMAC) on the weekend of March 23-24, 2013.